Callicoon Hills

Worth getting out of bed for

We can guarantee you’ll find yourself on a hike here – Callicoon Hills (previously known as Hill’s Villa and Hills Resort) might take its name from the Hill family, who purchased it in the 1940s – but it’s surrounded by some delightfully unruly topography, luxuriously coated in trees. Staff can point you in the right direction for roaming about nearby greenery, or you can drive out to tackle the grander, sometimes more challenging, trails: the majestic Walnut Mountain Park; the lakes, ponds and falls of Willowemoc Wild Forest; or Bouchoux trailhead for a panorama of the Delaware River Valley. Alternatively, you can ride along the water in a kayak, canoe, tubing ring and more, with Lander’s River Trips, or saddle up with Rolling Stone Ranch for a leisurely horse ride. Nearby small town Roscoe is renowned for its angling and fly-fishing opportunities, home to five of the US’s top trout streams. Callicoon itself is worth a visit for its vintage cinema, bountiful farmer’s market (one of the most renowned in the region), and quaint boutiques – we like Spruce Homegoods for handicrafts and the Antique Center for rummaging. Livingston Manor might host an annual Trout Parade and the Catskill Fly-Fishing Museum, but it’s becoming increasingly hip, so those looking for a different angle are off the hook and can explore the sweet indie shops, delicious farm delis, natural-wine bars and breweries. And, in Narrowsburg you can pick up cosy-making homewares at Sunny’s Pop or Catskills Curated, find picnic fixings (homemade preserves, aged cheeses, local charcuterie) at Narrowsburg Proper, or pet and feed alpacas at the Buck Brook Farm. Head into Sullivan County to see the Callicoon Center Band, who’ve been playing since 1934, and swing by the old Woodstock site, still a lively place of peace and love as the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, where there’s a museum, wellness workshops, concerts and festivals, such as October’s wine-focused the Big Sip. And though the hotel is more a place to relax after a jaunt into nature, they often hold events too, such as axe-throwing, reiki, sound healing, drag brunches, and seasonal happenings – for Halloween they tell ghost stories in the woods and hold tarot readings.

Local restaurants

You only need to glance over the list of heritage trout hatcheries, beekeepers with side hustles in gin-making, growers of heirloom vegetables, even suppliers of fruit woods for the hotel’s smoker, to know that you’ll eat very well in the farm-fresh paradise that is the Catskills. You’ll find trout in various forms on all menus, and you’ll need to drive around 15 minutes at most to reach the tastiest local eateries, but it’s worth designated driver-ing for the night and giving the local delicacy a try. In Livingston Manor, pizza joint the Kaatskeller sources mozzarella made nearby for their wood-fired creations and toppings are beautifully conceived. Try the white pizza with Littleneck clams; the ‘wild one’ with boar pepperoni, harissa-spiked San Marzano tomatoes, and pepper-infused raw honey; or the ‘dreaming of Buffalo’, with chicken in buffalo-kombucha hot sauce, Tonjes Farm blue-cheese crumble and micro-basil. You might find yourself bursting into song at the Arnold House – it’s encouraged when the jukebox plays – but otherwise your mouth will be full with pork belly in cherry chutney, brown-butter-glazed Beaverkill trout with squash latkes, or Funyun-crusted-chicken sandwiches. For a magical tasting-menu journey, book the DeBruce, who’ll start you off with elderflower kombucha, walk you through oysters with pine, kohlrabi risotto with almonds and caviar and trout ​​consommé, before finishing with foraged-tree-bark tea and madeleines. And Kenoza Hall’s dining is heavily French accented; crab-stuffed galettes come with a slick of dijon, Hudson Valley foie gras comes with red-grape mostarda and a black-sesame rouille, and there’s a menu of caviars, served with a dollop of vodka-and-black-pepper crème fraîche.

Local cafés

Callicoon Caffè’s all-day breakfast is very popular for its hefty serve of pancakes (drizzled with local maple syrup, natch), waffles and immense sandwiches. Over in Livingston manor, Main Street Farm’s sandwiches make excellent showcases for local produce – try the Beaverkill with smoked trout and vegan mayo, Catskill Comfort with applewood-smoked ham, Brooklyn-made sweet-and-spicy mustard and Remembrance Farm lettuce, or the Farmstead, a baguette simply filled with Tonjes Farm’s cave-aged raw cow cheese, olive oil and cracked black pepper.

Local bars

Upward Brewing isn’t just an optimistic name although the brewery’s ascent has been fast, it’s called so because its 120-acre reserve has been dubbed ‘beer mountain’ and there’s an annual challenge to trail run across it – you get rewarded with their fine craft suds. But you don’t need to exert yourself, you can just get comfy in their tap room and taste away. The family who run Seminary Hill Cidery have been pressing apples for generations and honed their tippling art along the way while championing sustainable practices. Their tasting room is a modern marvel, and snacks (venison-liver mousse, fried chicken skin with hot sauce) will keep you on the level. And, the Callicoon Wine Merchant has a very urbane list, plus tempting tapas plates.